Story Ideas and Artwork Go Hand in Hand…

Tag Archives: stenciled

My Roughcraft Artwork, displayed in a number of this blog’s art posts–as “Roughcraft Art– Stencil-Centered”, etc.–is based in backdrop design.

The examples, here, (ABOVE and BELOW) are made up of the same design and stencil with different versions of a border. (Also see the post “Page Borders and Backgrounds” by scrolling down the main blog.)

Displayed here is a created backdrop and stenciled horse. The post “Roughcraft Artwork–Stencil-Centered” also included a discussion of the use of geometric designs added to this backdrop Roughcraft Artwork.

The backdrop shown here is created by using a heavy black marker to swirl continuing loops, or basic Roughcraft Artwork, onto the page after the stencil has been applied in the center. The loops are free-hand drawn, with various, random length and width.

The fun begins with the colors! In this particular design, I used white-out, markers, and colored pencils, and a little red ink for the small heart. The stenciled horse was drawn with black ink.

If you are interested in making handcrafted books that include artwork, you can easily create backdrop designs to add to your project. I call mine Roughcraft Artwork because I’m no near an accomplished artist! I just go with the flow.

For me, the writing comes naturally, and art is a fascination. I wanted to find some capable way to add artwork to my handcrafted books, so Roughcraft Artwork was born.

And, of course, there are as many ways to vary it as there are people! So go with your own flow!

Book page design ideas are endless. For my homemade books, I use a variety of typed, or easy flowing border designs in black and white, or in color, and some full page creations that easily can be typed, or written upon.

If, like me, you enjoy the old fashioned artwork done by hand and created with basic ideas, here are some ways you can rev up your pages for that homemade book.

(ABOVE): This is just a little handiwork border with a stenciled “page” number space in the lower right corner. The actual number could be added via stencil, also. Perhaps something smaller could be stenciled into the round of the curve to the left of the word “page”, or a hand-written numeral might be inserted.

(BELOW): Here’s an excerpt page with a created border for the left hand side of the pages from my “Dear Diary” adventure drama novel entitled “Out of Vermont”.

(BELOW) is a straight, mixed color border, easy to duplicate to use for many pages. I used this in portions of my novelette “Triple Crown Run by Smarty E. Jones”.

(BELOW): For my first edition of “Interlock”, a novelette thriller, I used a simple letter page border. The (excerpt) page shows BAT, for BAT Publishing, stretch-spelled from top to bottom of the page and from side to side. The name of the novelette, the page number, and BAT Publishing’s (then) address are shown at the bottom of each page.

(BELOW): Using dashes, or pluses, or stars provided on your keyboard, you can fill

an entire page with same, then make copies of it to use as background pages for your typed, or written story. Scanning the finished background page onto your computer, then printing it to make copies will lighten the background nicely.

(BELOW): See how typing across the processed background page is easy to do.

Another page background that can be developed is shown (BELOW):

This was created by making a copy of a pink sheet of paper that I enclosed in a soft, slightly wrinkled plastic magazine sheet protector. I then made copies from the copy. It, too, can be quite easily typed across and then copied again with the words intact to make multiple pages for multiple copies of your book.

I can create a different color, of course, by simply putting a different color of paper into the sheet protector.

As many of you probably use modern computerized techniques to edit and create images and whatnot, the versions I describe here may seem tedious.

But creative, stay-at-home personality types may find them interesting for low tech projects.

I refer to my techniques as simply “homemade”, and I enjoy making the creations, because I also put a lot of love and enjoyable work into “making” my stories!

(BELOW): This would be my idea of a high-tech homemade border, using the preciseness of a stenciled spirograph! Just create and fill in the color schemes.

You could use this stenciled spirograph border on the right, or the left of the full page, and, although it is a larger design, still have plenty of room to type, or write your page’s lines.

Your story idea, your story designs, your homemade book. There are no limits. Just have fun!

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